Members of the 2020 Vision Team say they want to craft a vision statement for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that is short, hopeful and not focused on structure.
How short?
Something that you can read as you run by it, suggested Becca Snedeker-Meier, a student from Wooster College in Ohio.
Something that could fit on a bumper sticker or a T-shirt, said Lisa Juica Perkins, a pastor from Texas and co-moderator with Bernadette Coffee of the 2020 Vision Team. “When you see it, you automatically know what organization they’re a part of.”
Something that’s “short, quick and that would really tell the world who we are, and become our catch phrase,” said Joshua Andrzejewski, a hospital chaplain from Virginia.
He also said: “This should be hopeful and get people really energized about what the church is doing and how individuals can be part of that.”
Examples team members offered as guideposts:
From the United Methodists: “Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.”
“God … [Read more...]

The 2020 Vision Team is continuing its work of trying to listen to people around the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and outside the denomination – and its members are reporting they’re hearing a call for Presbyterians to be committed to social justice, to move from dialogue to action (“become the unfrozen chosen”), and to work in global partnership.
During a conference call meeting Sept. 19, team member Chris McCain, an elder from Atlanta, summarized responses that he and Debbie Foster, a mid council executive from Foothills Presbytery in South Carolina, heard during a listening session with roughly 200 people in the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta. People spoke about translating love into action – but McCain also cautioned that most of those attending a typical presbytery meeting are ministers, so “there may be a stronger disposition about wanting to make claims about (the importance of) social justice” than in the church as a whole.
DèAnn Cunningham, an elder from Charlotte, North … [Read more...]

ST. LOUIS – After spending two days listening as Presbyterians at Big Tent offered their hopes, concerns and ideas for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the members of the 2020 Vision Team spent some time July 8 unpacking what they’d heard.
The 15-member vision team has been given the task of writing a “guiding statement” for the denomination and proposing a plan for implementing that. Its deadline for finalizing its report to the 2018 General Assembly is Feb. 16, 2018, although its co-moderators believe the vision team will keep working until 2020.
Here’s some of what the vision team members gleaned from what they heard during a series of “listening sessions” at Big Tent.
New definitions. Some said the PC(USA) needs to pare down what it does, and that “we don’t need to have a vision statement that says everything to everyone,” said Joshua Narcisse, a team member and a student at Yale Divinity School. “People are not so attached to the idea of a denomination as an … [Read more...]

ST. LOUIS – So the 2020 Vision Team has come to Big Tent to listen, to hear what Presbyterians have to say about a question General Assembly co-moderator Jan Edmiston frequently asks: “What is breaking God’s heart in your community?”
And also: “What lifts up God’s heart in your community?”
And this: What do you think God might be calling us to do?
Those are among the questions the vision team is asking on a survey of Presbyterians (one of three surveys it’s circulating – with the others for those close to but not part of the church, and a third for those outside the denomination). At the request of the 2016 General Assembly, the vision team is trying to craft a guiding statement for the denomination – and on July 7, some of its members held a “listening session” to see what Presbyterians at the grassroots level might say.
One of the first things they discovered: Presbyterians at the top level of the national church are definitely interested in the 2020 Vision Team and what … [Read more...]

ST. LOUIS – The 2020 Vision Team has come to Big Tent 2017 in St. Louis to listen to the concerns of Presbyterians from across the nation – and to begin imagining a shape for the vision statement the team will craft for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
The 2016 General Assembly created 2020 Vision Team to develop a “guiding statement” for the denomination by 2020 and to “make a plan for its implementation.” To get a sense of what Presbyterians want that to say, the vision team will hold a series of “listening sessions” at Big Tent, which runs July 6-8 – two during workshops, one informally at lunch and one with the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy.
The vision team held its second face-to-face meeting July 6, just before Big Tent convened. The team also is preparing to release a mid-term report this summer, to inform the PC(USA) about its work.
Here’s more of the discussion from the July 6 meeting.
Anxiety and confusion. There is definitely confusion about what … [Read more...]

Bit by bit, the 2020 Vision Team is beginning to gather ideas and opinions about the future of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – listening to both Presbyterians and those outside the church.
Working by regions, team members are making contacts with mid councils and other groups – getting on the agenda to speak at presbytery and synod meetings, reaching out to congregations and community groups. So far, they’ve heard people lifting up issues outside the church walls such as gentrification and police shootings – asking where and how Presbyterians can be involved in responding to those community concerns.
The listening is just getting started, with team members reporting they are scheduling sessions through the fall. They are are working to gather feedback at presbytery meetings from Michigan to Puerto Rico; informally at the World Communion of Reformed Churches General Conference, which is meeting in Germany June 29 through July 7; with local mission initiatives and congregations; … [Read more...]